| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers (4-17) | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (10-10) | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Cueto (2-2) L: Lohse (1-4) S: Chapman (5) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–Johnny Cueto. He’s good. He’s very good. He may be the best Reds pitcher I’ve seen in my lifetime (if you exclude Jimmy Haynes, of course). Tonight, Cueto went 8 strong innings, permitting two runs on just three hits. He struck out 6 and walked none, leaving the game after just 85 pitches. Frankly, he probably should have gotten a complete game tonight, but manager Bryan Price is so much in love with the “save” stat that he brought in Aroldis Chapman for the ninth inning.
–That said, Aroldis Chapman is pretty great himself. He pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two Brewers to pick up his fifth save.
–Only one Red had more than a single hit. That Red’s name was Joey Votto. Votto had been on a mini-skid, but he went 2-4 tonight, with a first-inning solo homer.
–Brandon Phillips hit a 2-run homer in the fourth, and Marlon Byrd followed up one batter later with a solo shot.
The Bad
–Todd Frazier was 0-3 with two strikeouts. The Toddfather has been fine this year, but he was hitting cleanup tonight. So the Reds still have ZERO extra-base hits from the cleanup spot. That’s almost impossible to believe, twenty games into the season.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–The ol’ Redlegs have clawed their way back to .500, at 10-10. Can we please play the Brewers every night?
–Cueto has now won six straight games against Milwaukee. He’s 8-0 lifetime against the Brewers at Great American Ballpark. Crazy.
–Is it possible that Byrd is finally heating up? There are some positive signs.
–The Phillips/Byrd homers were the first time the Reds have gone back-to-back this season.
–Remember this time last year, when the Brewers were beginning to run away with the National League Central division? Baseball is a funny game.
The Reds are better than the Brewers. This I know.
— Chad Dotson (@dotsonc) April 29, 2015
–Only three games out of first place! The pennant race is heating up! Series finale against the Brew Crew tomorrow afternoon, with Michael Lorenzen making his major league debut. I’m definitely looking forward to that one. Go Reds.